Blackmon won the Pulitzer Prize for his book, "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II." He is also the co-executive producer of the PBS documentary of the same name.

He is also a contributing editor at the Washington Post and chairman and host of Forum, a public affairs program produced by the University of Virginia's Miller Center, which airs on more than 100 PBS affiliates in the United States.